Ambulatory & Production Medicine

Training Program

The Ambulatory and Production Medicine Clinic has three house officer positions which are filled with either interns or residents, depending on applicant qualifications. Veterinarians interested in these positions can get more information by contacting Dr. Chuck Guard (clg1@cornell.edu). Applications are accepted through the AAVC Intern/Resident Matching Program. Past participants in the internship program have usually continued with an Ambulatory or hospital-based residency or pursued careers in private clinical practice. Residency program participants have often received board certification from the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners, the American College of Theriogenologists, or the American College of Veterinary Preventive Veterinary Medicine and some have subsequently completed M.S. or Ph.D. programs. Many former residents are now employed in academia or industry.

Internship
The Ambulatory Internship at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, offers its interns a unique combination of clinical and academic experience. The internship is a non-degree program, providing additional clinical experience for practice or for application to residency programs, with training to partially fulfill specialty board requirements.

After individual training with senior faculty members, the intern is assigned a vehicle and a group of third or fourth year veterinary students and begins performing ambulatory calls assigned by the clinician in charge. Interns are required to share weekend duty and be responsible for emergency service on a rotating basis.

The Ambulatory and Production Medicine Clinic makes 3,600 farm calls and sees approximately 37,000 animals per year. About 85% of these are dairy cattle, including animals seen for routine herd health procedures and care of over 4,000 individual sick cattle per year. Horses account for most of the remainder of the farm calls, but sheep, goats, swine and camelids are seen as well. Special emphasis and training is provided in dairy production medicine. Some of the intern's time is spent in developing proficiency in reproductive health maintenance and mastitis control.

Time is provided, and interns are encouraged to attend and participate in a variety of rounds and seminars, and possibly enroll in elective course work with the permission of the Ambulatory and Production Medicine Section Chief. Time off and financial support is provided for each intern to attend a North American continuing education meeting during the year.
The intern is expected to prepare a manuscript suitable for publication in a professional or scientific journal. Upon satisfactory completion of the internship, a "Certificate of Internship" will be awarded.

Residency
The Ambulatory Residency at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, provides supervised clinical experience in a typical large animal practice setting with specialists in all fields of veterinary medicine available for consultation. Rounds, seminars, clinical conferences and elective courses are available to supplement the resident's clinical responsibilities.

The Ambulatory and Production Medicine Clinic makes 3,600 farm calls and sees approximately 37,000 animals per year. About 85% of these are dairy cattle, including animals seen for routine herd health procedures and care of over 4,000 individual sick cattle per year. Horses account for most of the remainder of the farm calls, but sheep, goats, swine and camelids are seen as well. Special emphasis and training is provided in dairy production medicine. Housestaff share weekend duty and are responsible for emergency service on a rotating basis.

During the second year of the program, an opportunity will be provided for the resident to gain experience in other services of the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, to participate in a research project or to visit another institution. The purpose of this elective rotation is to enrich the residency experience in preparation for board certification examinations or to enhance training in field research. The duration and amount of support for the elective rotation will be determined on an individual basis. Residents may be permitted to take advantage of selected course work opportunities. Time off and financial support is provided for residents to attend one North American scientific conference or continuing education meeting per year.

Each resident is required to prepare a manuscript suitable for publication in a professional or scientific journal. This may be a single or group case report, or may be the result of a clinical research project supervised by a member of the faculty.

A "Certificate of Residency" will be issued following successful completion of the residency program. Graduate studies may follow completion of the residency program upon application and acceptance by the Graduate School of Cornell University; concurrent enrollment is not permitted.

Objectives: To provide the resident with a high level of academic and clinical experience in the fields of large animal medicine, theriogenology and dairy production medicine. To fulfill the postgraduate training requirements for specialty board certification. To provide experience in the methods of professional veterinary medical education and supervised clinical teaching experience. To assist in providing a high level of veterinary medical service to the public and the profession.